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At the height of the permit backlog at Portland’s Bureau of Development Services this past summer, customers were waiting eight weeks for an appointment with staff after submitting an application. At that point, 1,200 building permits were in the queue and BDS staffers were processing about 35 per day.

BDS is whittling away at the backlog and hopes to eliminate it by early February, bureau Director Rebecca Esau said.

The backlog was caused by a 鈥渃onvergence of situations that happened over the last year,鈥� she said.

鈥淚 would promise that it will get better in 2021,鈥� she added.

Developers have complained that the backlog has led to costly and frustrating monthslong delays on building projects.

City officials shut offices in mid-March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving employees to work from home. Permit processing was suspended for a week. The bureau was unprepared for employees to work remotely en masse, Esau said.

鈥淲e didn’t have the hundreds of laptops we needed for staff to work remotely,鈥� Esau said. 鈥淏DS wasn’t a high priority. It took several months for us to get the laptops we needed to work remotely, and we got them incrementally.鈥�

The city also suffered from inadequate network capacity for the crush of remote work, Esau said.

BDS, like other city bureaus, is now engaged in its budget process. Mayor Ted Wheeler has asked bureaus that draw on the general fund to propose 5 percent cuts. BDS is largely funded by fees, so it’s less impacted by Wheeler’s proposed cuts. However, pandemic-related slowdowns in the building industry have directly impacted operations.

On Friday, BDS will submit a budget request for a one-time general fund bailout of about $10.4 million.

鈥淭he majority of our funding comes from these large commercial projects with high valuations,鈥� Esau said. 鈥淭he decrease in these projects has significantly impacted our bureau financially.鈥�

Recently, 13 nonunion employees were notified that they will be laid off effective March 1, BDS spokesman Ken Ray said. Further layoffs are possible in May or June, he added. Employees represented by unions make up about 75 percent of BDS’ workforce.

Also, 53 vacant positions have been eliminated, reducing BDS’ workforce to about 400 full-time equivalent employees. The bureau has also reduced employees’ schedules and encouraged voluntary furloughs.

With BDS operating at less than full capacity, permit applications stacked up. Construction 鈥� designated an essential business by Gov. Kate Brown 鈥� continued, though it was slowed by supply disruptions and scattered COVID outbreaks.

Permit delays began to impact projects.

Noel Johnson, a principal with developer Cairn Pacific, said he has grown frustrated with delays at BDS.

鈥淚’m three years into trying to build a 14-home subdivision in Northwest Portland, and I still can’t get building permits,鈥� he said. 鈥淥ur city’s systems are so broken. It makes me very sad.鈥�

Johnson is trying to build relatively affordable, detached family-size homes that are in line with the city’s goals, he said.

For developers, the permit delays come amid a raft of other challenges, including labor and materials shortages and COVID-induced dips in rents.

鈥淲ith everything else, the last thing we need is permit challenges on top of that,鈥� said Tom DiChiara, also a principal at Cairn Pacific.

The delays may give an advantage to projects that were permitted before March. Under construction in Goose Hollow, for example, is an eight-story mixed-use building at Southwest 18th Avenue and Salmon Street for Greystar. The project has proceeded smoothly, with minor permit adjustments made with little hassle, said Doug Burges, Greystar’s director of development in Portland.

鈥淚t’s actually gone pretty well,鈥� he said.

Some developers were reluctant to publicly discuss permit delays out of fear of damaging their relationships with BDS officials.

Permit delays are a rising concern in Portland, said Laurie Kendall, president and CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors’ Pacific Northwest chapter. The city has not responded quickly enough to the pandemic, she said.

鈥淓verybody else seems to be able to adapt to the new business model,鈥� she said.

BDS officials said the bureau is trying. Esau noted that BDS staffers have conducted 130,583 commercial and residential inspections at more than 1,000 construction sites since the pandemic began. Many inspections are now conducted remotely via video calls. Esau shifted bureau staff to focus on incoming work. With a dearth of large commercial projects, some plans examiners shifted to residential.

The bureau has moved more capabilities online, so permitting can be done entirely remotely. On Dec. 14, BDS launched a permanent permitting system to replace a makeshift temporary one put in place after the mid-March closure.

鈥淲e’ll continue to expand and improve our digital review capabilities and make those processes more efficient internally,鈥� Esau said.

Meanwhile, the bureau will continue to accept paper plans because not all applicants use computers, Esau said.

As BDS faces the city’s budgeting deadlines, the bureau faces a delicate balance: It must be fiscally responsible without hollowing out the workforce. The bureau is drawing on lessons from the previous recession in striking that balance.

鈥淭he development community is very nervous about whether we are going to cut too much and be in a situation similar to 2008-2009,鈥� Esau said. 鈥淲e were unable to respond at the same pace as the recovery and the demand for services.鈥�

Cuts that go too deep would risk leaving the bureau unable to respond to increased economic activity later this year and next year, as many analysts expect to happen as the pandemic recedes.

鈥淎 priority is to hang on to as much of our workforce as we can 鈥� particularly in permitting and inspections 鈥� so we’re well positioned when the economy does recover,鈥� Esau said.

Portland Commissioner Dan Ryan, who oversees BDS, provided assurance that the bureau would indeed be prepared for the years ahead.

鈥淲e will not allow the mistakes of 2008’s layoffs to decimate BDS, which is the community-facing service bureau, at this time of urgent need,鈥� he stated via email. 鈥淚t is imperative that BDS is resourced appropriately to keep the economy moving and to be poised for expansion in ’21-22 and beyond.鈥�